Method of matching hedge funds and investors and apparatus therefor

ABSTRACT

A method for matching a hedge fund and a hedge fund investor, and apparatus therefore, may utilize databases that may be searched by search engines. The databases and the search engines may be accessed using a website. Information regarding the investor may be stored in one database and information relating to the hedge fund may be separately stored in the other database. An investor may access the search engine associated with the database containing hedge fund information to identify hedge funds that may be relevant to that investor. Likewise, a hedge fund may access the search engine associated with the database containing investor information to identify qualified investors that may be interested in the hedge fund.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 11/915,253filed on Dec. 12, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,468,078, which is a NationalStage of Application PCT/US2006/019910, which in turn claims the benefitof U.S. Provisional Application 60/683,586 filed on May 23, 2005, thecontents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed to the hedge fund industry. Moreparticularly, the invention is directed to a method and associatedapparatus that may allow direct interaction and information flow betweenhedge funds (or types of investment vehicles or entities) and investorsin those funds (or types of investment vehicles or entities). The methodmay use dual search engines, one of which may permit a hedge fund toreview a database of qualified investors and identify investors thatmatch certain criteria. The other search engine may enable a qualifiedinvestor to review a database of hedge funds and identify a hedge fundthat matches the investor's criteria. Therefore, the method may permithedge fund agents direct access to investors and may also permitqualified investors to gain access to detailed hedge fund informationand agents.

2. Reference to Related Art

A hedge fund is a form of investment vehicle that may be used by certainindividuals and institutions to engage in aggressive and/or speculativeinvestment activity not open to ordinary mutual funds. Indeed, theoffering memorandum of many hedge funds allows those funds to use acombination of sophisticated investment strategies, such as taking bothlong and short positions, using leverage and derivatives, and investingin many markets, in an effort to secure a higher return on investment.However, in return for the ability to adopt these aggressive investmentpositions, hedge funds are made subject to significant oversight andregulation. For example, hedge funds are not permitted to advertise andhedge fund investors must meet certain legal requirements. Theseinvestors must also be able to establish certain financial criteria andare presumed to be sufficiently knowledgeable to understand the risksrelated to hedge fund investing. Many hedge funds also have extremelyhigh minimum investment amounts ranging from $250,000 to well over $1million and the managers of hedge funds may charge significant fees andcommissions for their services.

Investor participation in hedge funds appears to be growing, however,the rate of such growth could be increased. One factor that may beholding back growth in the hedge fund market may be current marketconditions, wherein there exists a wide variety of available funds, buta relatively small group of available qualified investors. Stateddifferently, the market presently features an array of different hedgefunds from which an investor may choose. However, the high minimumdollar amounts required to invest in hedge funds will generally meanthat the pool of qualified investors available to participate in anygiven hedge fund is relatively small. Accordingly, to simulate growth inhedge fund investing, means need to be developed whereby this finitegroup of investors can be matched with appropriate hedge fundopportunities.

Past methods of connecting eligible investors with funds of interest tothose investors may be unfruitful and are typically very expensive.These prior methods included the hedge funds retaining third-partymarketing firms to find qualified investors. Indeed, hiring such a firmmay be critical to a funds' success since, as mentioned above, hedgefunds are not permitted to advertise. However, these third-party firmsare extremely expensive, with some charging up to 20% in perpetuity ofall fee on money raised by the firm. Therefore, it would be desirable toprovide a method to match hedge funds and hedge fund investors that iscontrolled, discrete and allows for an easy exchange of ideas andinformation in a confidential and secure environment at a low cost.

Concerning potentially related art, Published U.S. Patent ApplicationNos. 2002/0087506, 2002/0087446, 2002/0087450 and 2003/0101115 aredirected to methods for matching inventors with entrepreneurs. Further,U.S. Pat. No. 7,013,291 is directed to a “Financial Instrument FilteringSystem and Method Therefor” and describes a method wherein a user firstselects certain filter criteria including an “investment parameter”.This filter criterion is then matched against a database of financialinstruments. Once matched, the user receives a “histogram” based on theoutput data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The method concerns the hedge fund industry, where investors may desireaccess to a broad range of investment opportunities and hedge funds maydesire more efficient and effective access to investors and investorcapital without the help of expensive intermediaries. Specifically, themethod may allow direct interaction and may provide, subject to certainsafeguards, unobstructed flow of information between a hedge fund(s) andan investor(s). In the method, a hedge fund may be charged a fee to gainaccess to an investor(s) in a manner that may also result in nocommission on the back-end. The method may also permit investors to gainaccess to detailed information on hedge funds. The method may beimplemented using dual search engines, or the like that may allow hedgefunds to contact a database of qualified investors that match the fundsearch criteria. The method may also use the search engines to enableinvestors to search for hedge funds that match the investor's specificparameters. The search engines, databases and related information may bestored on one or more computer servers. Access to the search engines anddatabases may be provided though a single website or other form ofcommunication portal that may itself be accessed globally via theInternet or like global computer network

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following description, reference will be made to the associateddrawings, wherein like reference numbers refer to like parts throughout,and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of apparatus associated with an embodimentof the method of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a flowchart highlighting certain steps in an embodiment of themethod of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A method for matching or otherwise connecting hedge fund(s) and hedgefund investor(s) may utilize two databases that may be searched by twoseparate search engines, each search engine being associated with one ofthe databases. Further, the databases and the search engines may beaccessed using a single website or other communication portal. Thesearch engines, databases and website may reside on one or more computerservers. Information concerning the investor(s) may be stored in onedatabase and information relating to the hedge fund(s) may be stored inthe other database. An investor or agent thereof may access the searchengine associated with the database containing hedge fund information toidentify a hedge fund(s) that may be of interest to the investor.Likewise, a hedge fund or agent thereof may access the search engineassociated with the database containing investor information to identifya qualified investor(s) that may be interested in the hedge fund. Aninvestor(s) may be permitted access to the hedge fund informationdatabase for a fee or at no cost. Hedge funds may also be permitted toaccess to the investor information database for a fee or at no cost.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a method 10 for matching or otherwiseconnecting a hedge fund(s) (and agents thereof) with a hedge fundinvestor(s) (or agents thereof) may include two databases 12, 14 thatmay be searched by two search engines 16, 18, each search engine 16, 18being associated with one of the databases 12, 14. The databases 12, 14and the search engines 16, 18 may be accessed though a single website 20or communication portal. However, it will be appreciated that twoseparate websites or portals may be used with each website beingassociated with one of the search engines 16, 18. Information concerningan investor may be stored in one database 14 and information relating tothe hedge fund may be separately stored in the other database 12.Notably, while the information in the other database 12 will begenerally described herein a specifically directed to hedge funds andhedge fund entities, it will also be appreciated that information onother, alternative or additional, investment vehicles and entities mayalso be stored in the other database 12. For example the other database12 may include information on hedge funds, Fund of Funds, CommodityTrading Advisor (CTA) and other types of financial entities. Aninvestor, or agent thereof, may use the search engine 16 associated withthe database 12 containing hedge fund information to identify a hedgefund that may be of interest to the investor. Likewise, a hedge fund, oragent thereof, may access the search engine 18 associated with thedatabase 14 containing investor information to identify a qualifiedinvestor that may be interested in the hedge fund.

The search engines 16, 18, the databases 12, 14 and the website 20 orcommunication portal may be resident on a computer server (not shown)that may be accessed remotely via an intranet, Internet or a globalcomputer network. These elements may also be resident on a handheldelectronic device (e.g., a PDA or handheld computing device), a laptopcomputer or other manner of portable electronic device such that theymay be directly accessed by a user on an as-needed basis. Further, thewebsite 20, search engines 16, 18, the databases 12, 14 may be accessedby investors, investor agents and hedge fund agents using PCs, computerservers, handheld devices and the like via an intranet or a globalcomputer network.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the method 10 may included a stepwhereby upon visiting the website 20 or other manner of communicationportal participating investors and hedge funds are first prompted to:

1) enter specified separate sections of the website;

2) enter hedge fund or investor information into the appropriatedatabase 12, 14.

Further, if the investor or hedge fund has already entered hedge fund orinvestor information into the appropriate database 12 or 14, the hedgefund or investor may be permitted use of an appropriate search engine16, 18 to perform a search of the hedge fund or investor information onthe database 12, 14 according to pre-selected parameters.

More specifically, and still referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, investorsand hedge funds may each access the website 20 or portal wherein, if theparticipant is previously registered 22, participant is prompted to login 24 using a username and password. All registered participants mayalso be required to agree to a user or service agreement each time theyaccess the website 20 or portal. If the participant has not previouslyregistered 22 with the website 20, the participant may be required toregister 26 or otherwise indicate if they are an “investor” or a “hedgefund.” For example, separate pull down menus (not shown) may be providedfor investor participants and hedge fund participants. Next, for firsttime participants, a questionnaire or template 28, 30 for the entry ofdata screens may be provided, again through the use of dropdown menus.Upon being presented with a template 28, 30, the investor or hedge fundmay be prompted to enter the information required for registration.

For example, in the case of an unregistered investor, the investor maybe prompted to enter the following information (categories are shown incapital letters and potential selections for each category are providedunder each category):

Investor Data Entry Information (i.e., Hedge Fund Searched Information)

1. TYPE OF INVENTOR

-   -   Advisor, Bank, Endowment, Family Office, Family Office/Fund of        funds, Foundation, Fund of funds, High Net Worth Individual,        Incubator, Pension Fund, Structured Products, Other.

2. INVESTOR STRATEGY OF INTEREST

-   -   Capital Structure Arbitrage, Convertible Arbitrage, Country        Specific, CTA/Managed Futures, Currency, Distressed, Emerging        Markets, Energy Sector, Event Driven, Finance Sector, Fixed        Income (non-Arbitrage), Fix Income Arbitrage, Fund of Funds        (“FOF”)(Market Neutral), FOF (Multi-Strategy), FOF (Single        Strategy), Healthcare Sector, Long Only, Long/Short Equity,        Macro, Market Neutral Equity, Market Neutral Quantitative,        Market Timer, Merger/Risk Arbitrage, Mortgages, Multi-Strategy,        Option Strategies, Other, Other Arbitrage, Regulation D, Short        Bias, Short-term Trading, Small/Micro Cap, Special Situations,        Statistical Arbitrage, Technology Sector, Value, VC/Private        Equity.

3. AMOUNT INVESTOR HAS TO INVEST IN HEDGE FUNDS

-   -   Less then 5 Million, 5-20 Million, 20-50 Million, 50-100        Million, 100-200 Million, over 200 Million.

4. TRACK RECORD REQUIRED BY INVESTOR

Does not Matter, 1 year or more, 2 years or more, 3 years or more.

5. INVESTOR INVESTS IN

Both, Onshore Funds, Offshore Funds.

6. SHARPE RATIO REQUIRED BY INVESTOR

-   -   Does not Matter, 1 or greater, 2 or greater, 3 or greater, 4 or        greater, 5 or greater, 6 or greater, 7 or greater, 8 or greater,        9 or greater, 10 or greater.

7. PERCENTAGE INVESTOR CAN INVEST IN HEDGE FUNDS

-   -   Does not Matter, Up to 3%, Up to 5%, Up to 10%, Up to 15%, Up to        20%, Up to 30%, 30% or more.

8. INVESTOR REQUIRING AUDITED FINANCIALS

Does not Matter, Yes, No.

9. INVESTOR WILL LOOK AT FUNDS THAT USE LEVERAGE

Does not Matter, Yes, No.

10. INVESTOR THAT SEEDS HEDGE FUNDS

Does not Matter, Yes, No.

11. INVESTOR REQUIRES ACCESS TO A RISK REPORT

Does not Matter, Yes, No.

12. INVESTOR REQUIRES HEDGE FUND TO BE A REGISTERED INVESTMENT ADVISOR

-   -   Does not Matter, Yes, No.

13. LOCATION OF INVESTOR

Any, List of Countries.

Alternatively, in the case of a new hedge fund participant, the agentsthereof may be prompted to enter the following information (categoriesare shown in capital letters and possible selections for each categoryare provided under each category):

Hedge Fund Data Entry Information (i.e., Investor Searched Information)

1. PERFORMANCE

-   -   YTD, Last Month, Since Inception, Best Performing, Maximum        Drawdown, Positive Months, Negative Months, NAV, Alpha, Beta,        Sharpe Ratio, Standard Deviation;

2. NAME OF HEDGE FUND

3. STRATEGY

-   -   Capital Structure Arbitrage, Convertible Arbitrage, Country        Specific, CTA/Managed Futures, Currency, Distressed, Emerging        Markets, Energy Sector, Event Driven, Finance Sector, Fixed        Income (non-Arbitrage), Fix Income Arbitrage, Fund of Funds        (“FOF)(Market Neutral), FOF (Multi-Strategy), FOF (Single        Strategy), Healthcare Sector, Long Only, Long/Short Equity,        Macro, Market Neutral Equity, Market Neutral Quantitative,        Market Timer, Merger/Risk Arbitrage, Mortgages, Multi-Strategy,        Option Strategies, Other, Other Arbitrage, Regulation D, Short        Bias, Short-term Trading, Small/Micro Cap, Special Situations,        Statistical Arbitrage, Technology Sector, Value, VC/Private        Equity.        4. ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT (AUM)    -   Less than 1 Million, 1-5 Million, 5-10 Million, 10-50 Million,        50-100 Million, 100-250 Million, 250-500 Million, over 500        Million.

5. LOCATION OF FUND

Does not Matter, Onshore, Offshore.

6. TRACK RECORD

Does not Matter, 1 year or more, 2 years or more, 3 years or more.

7. CAPACITY

-   -   Less then 1 Million, 1-5 Million, 5-10 Million, 10-50 Million,        50-100 Million, 100-250 Million, 250-500 Million, over 500        Million.

8. INFRASTRUCTURE

1-5, 5-10, 10-25, 25-50, 50+.

9. MARKETER'S NAME

10. PORTFOLIO MANAGER'S NAME

11. AUDITED FINANCIALS

Yes, No, Does not Matter.

12. DOES FUND TAKE SEED CAPITAL

Yes, No, Does not Matter.

13. OPEN TO NEW INVESTORS

Yes, No, Does not Matter.

14. LOCATION OF FUND

Any location, List of Countries.

Still referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a third party service provider 32may be provided to establish the authenticity, reliability ortrustworthiness of the information entered into either the hedge fundtemplate 28 or the investor template 30. Examples of service providers32 include in-house review personnel and outside agencies such as lawfirms, financial investment firms and credit agencies. A systemadministrator 34 may also be provided to monitor use of the website 22,search engines 16, 18 and databases 12, 14 and control access thereto.Alternatively, the service provider 32 and the system administrator 34may combined into a single entity. The Administrator 34 may hide (i.e.,render unsearchable) or remove hedge fund and/or investor profiles froma database 12, 14 on an as needed basis.

Still referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, following an investor's entry ofinformation into a questionnaire or template 30, the investor may berequired to consent to the terms of service provider agreement. Then,the template information may be forwarded to a service provider 32 whomay then determine whether the investor is legally or otherwisequalified to invest in a high-risk investment such as a hedge fund. Ifthe service provider determines that an investor is not a qualifiedinvestor, the investor is not permitted access hedge fund database andmay be exited 36, denied entry or otherwise removed from the system. Theinvestor may also be notified why they were rejected. If the investor isa qualified investor, the investor may be prompted to enter investorcontact information and investor profile information. The investorprofile information may include the information previously provided bythe investor in the questionnaire or template 30. Alternatively, theinvestor profile may include a combination of questionnaire or template30 information and additional information requested by the administrator34. Once the investor contact information is entered, the administrator34 may receive notice that there is a pending investor. Theadministrator 34 may then contact the investor and review the investor'sprofile information to discern whether the investor will be grantedaccess to the system (i.e., further access website 22, or to the hedgefund search engine 16). For security, the administrator 34 may issue anapproved investor a temporary user name and password for entrance to thewebsite 22 or search engine 16. The investor may then use the temporaryuser name and password to gain access to a personal page 38 for theinvestor that contains all the information that the investor has enteredand allows access to the hedge fund information database. All contactand template information entered by the investor may also be transferredinto the database 14 of investor information to function as the profilefor that investor.

Still referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, regarding the hedge fund,following entry of information into the questionnaire or template 28,the hedge fund may select a level of service 40. These levels of servicemay include limitations on the number of investor profiles a hedge fundmay access over a given period of time. For example, depending on thelevel of service a hedge fund may be granted the ability to review atotal of 180 investor profiles or more depending (for example) on thenumber of investor profiles in the database 14. However, the hedge fundmay also be restricted or otherwise capped to between 10-20 investorreviews per month. Further examples of hedge fund service levels are setforth below:

-   -   1. Executive Membership—permits 180 investor profile        views—limited to 20 per month.    -   2. Senior Membership—permits 96 investor profile views—limited        to 15 per month    -   3. Junior Membership—permits 36 investor profile views—limited        to 10 per month    -   4. A La Carte Membership—permits participating fund to purchase        bundles of 3 investor profiles    -   5. Trial—permits participating fund to view a total of 3        investor profiles

The number of available investor profile views may be rolled over eachmonth or may be non-cumulative. Investor profile views may also be timesensitive, such that any the views are cancelled after a period of timeif not used (e.g., annually).

Further, the hedge funds may also be provided with additional servicesdepending on the level of service 40. For example, the hedge funds maybe provided with the ability to contact one or more investors quicklyusing a virtual business card (“VBC”). A VBC is an e -mail messagecontaining the hedge fund contact information, the fund logo, and ashort personal note prepared by the hedge fund. The VBC may be sentdirectly to an inbox provided for the investor as part of the investor'spersonal page 38. Additional features may also include customizableinvestor searches, book-marking of targeted investors, customization ofa marketing page 42 that is viewable by investors with company logo andwebsite link, the ability to upload marketing materials to a hedge fundpersonal page 44 or the marketing page 42, the ability to post andupdate performance statistics on a personal page, the ability toparticipate in capital introduction events depending upon the level ofservice and the use of a customer relationship management (CRM) system.Using the CRM, a hedge fund may create electronic folders on itspersonal page. The folders may permit the hedge fund to storeinformation on investors the hedge fund has sourced and the ability towrite notes related to each investor. Accordingly, the CRM may allow forvery efficient sorting and organizational processing for the hedge fund.

After the hedge fund selects a level of service 40, the hedge fund maybe asked to consent to a service agreement (if available) and undergoreview related to the use of the website 20, search engine 18 anddatabase 14. If the hedge fund agrees to accept the service agreement,it is prompted to provide contact information, specific details aboutthe fund, and then to enter payment information to pay for any fees. Forexample, the hedge fund may be accessed a weekly, monthly or annualsubscription fee to access the website 20, etc.

Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, as with a new investor, followingentry of the above information and payment information, the hedge fundinformation may be forwarded to a service provider 32 for legal approvaland then to an administrator 34 for further personal contact andinformation review. If approved, the hedge fund may be issued atemporary user name and password and permitted access to the website 20,etc once the service period begins. Further, similar to the investors,all contact and template information entered by the hedge fund may alsobe transferred into the database 12 of hedge fund information tofunction as the profile for that hedge fund.

Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 and turning again to investors, onceadmitted to the website 20 and provided with a personal page 38, theinvestor may access the search engine associate 16 with the hedge funddatabase 12. Specifically, the investor may initiate a search of theabove described hedge fund template information 28. Following eachsearch, the investor may be provided with a list of applicable hedgefunds. The investor may then designate a particular hedge fund profileon the list to obtain basic information about the fund and may alsoaccess the hedge fund's virtual marketing page. The investor may alsoopen and view the hedge fund's uploaded marketing materials on the hedgefund marketing page 42 and may add the fund to a list of book-markedfunds on the investor's personal page 38.

Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an investor may be permitted free useof the search engine 16 to search through the hedge fund database 12 andto screen hedge funds profiles before contacting hedge funds (usingintra-system email or other contact information provided in the hedgefund profile), bookmark hedge funds, create a personal watch list ofpotential future investments, perform due diligence on hedge funds in adiscrete manner, post investment criteria about the investor for hedgefunds to see. Investors may limit the number of hedge funds that mayview their full investor profile on any given day, week or month. Forexample, the investor's profile may include a code whereby that profilemay be view no more than five (5) times per day. Finally, investors mayalso be granted complementary and priority access to capitalintroduction (“cap-intro”) events sponsored by hedge funds. Notably,these cap-intro events may be recorded and made available on the hedgefund marketing page 42 for review investors. However, it will beappreciated that access to the recording of a cap intro event may berestricted to only certain investors.

Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the hedge fund is permitted access toa search engine 18 that allows it to input data regarding the investortype about which the hedge fund would like information. The searchengine 18 may then select investor profiles according to the searchcriteria and may also provide a hedge fund agent with an initial list ofannotated investor profiles. An annotated investor profile may include alimited about of information concerning the investor as a means ofinforming the hedge fund if that investor is worth a full review. Forexample, an annotated profile may include the investor entity typeinformation (i.e., institution type or individual), and basicinformation concerning that investor's manner or style of investing(e.g., long/short only). For purposes of privacy and/or security theinvestors name or other contact information may be omitted from theannotated investor profile. The hedge fund may then review the list ofannotated investor profiles that were identify from the search and thesearch and the search criteria and select specific investor profiles fora full review. When the hedge fund agent accesses a full investorprofile, that selection may be counted against the hedge funds totalnumber of investor profile views per month. Further, in those instanceswherein a hedge fund agent is provided with a large under of annotatedinvestor profiles, the hedge fund may store a link to selected annotatedprofiles, or otherwise highlight or identify selected annotatedprofiles, for subsequent review. Accordingly, when the hedge fund agentis presented with a large number of annotated investor profiles,potentially relevant profiles from the larger list may be set asideduring an initial review of the larger list into a virtual “radarscreen” or database for a later analysis.

As mentioned above, the hedge fund may be permitted to access a limitednumber of full investor profiles depending upon the level of serviceselected. For example, each time a hedge fund agent accesses a fullinvestor profile to obtain specific information, a record of that accessis recorded, stored and compared to the number of investor profilereview permitted by the service level selected by the hedge fund.Capping the number of full investor profiles that a hedge fund mayreview on, for example, a monthly basis functions as a barrier to ahedge fund being able to copy or otherwise download all the investorprofiles in the database 14. Investor privacy is thereby reinforced.

Once a hedge fund accesses a full investor profile, the hedge fund maythen be permitted to send a virtual business card to the investor'se-mail address and write a personal message. In response to a VBC, theinvestor may receive a picture of the virtual business card along withthe personal message by e-mail. The hedge Fund may also save its searchcriteria or begin new searches with different criteria.

Regarding further operation of the CRM discussed above, when a hedgefund accesses an investor profile, an electronic link (hyperlink), orlike electronic connection or tag to that profile may be stored in a “MyInvestors” file on the hedge fund personal page 44. Additionally, oralternatively, in response to the hedge fund accessing an investor'sprofile, an electronic link or record, etc., of that access may bestored on in “log file” on the investor's personal page 38. Thus, themethod of the present invention, particular the CRM function, may assistinvestors and hedge funds to organize the information each participatein sourcing.

Finally, both hedge funds and investors are permitted access to list ofoutside service providers. These outside service providers may includeAttorneys, Compliance, Conference Planners, Consultants, InternetServices, Marketing Services, Prime Brokers, Research Providers and SoftDollar Brokers who may list their services on the website 22 for amonthly fee. For example, the outside services providers may be accessusing a dropdown menu from the home page. When registering with thewebsite 22 to become a listed outside service provider, the outsideservice provider may be prompted to register the business by enteringinformation about the business to make payment for the listing. Theservice provider may then provide with a username and password thatallows them to access the information that is stored on the website anddisplayed so that they can edit the information.

Thus is described a novel business method of allowing hedge funds tosearch for investors and investors to search for hedge funds. Thebusiness method provides a safe, secure and confidential way of sourcinghedge fund investors at a very low cost.

Having thus described the method of the present invention, various otherembodiments, while not identical to the embodiment(s) described above,will become apparent to those of skill in the art that are neverthelesswithin the scope of the several claims.

We claim:
 1. A method for matching an investor and an agent on behalf ofa private placement financial vehicle comprising: providing at least onecomputer server operable to receive and transmit electronic data, theserver including a processor module and a computer readable electronicstorage module; providing a web-based platform hosted on said at leastone computer server and accessible through an internet connection, theweb-based platform allowing access to an electronically searchable firstdatabase and an electronically searchable second database, each of thefirst and second databases being hosted on said at least one computerserver; providing a plurality of private placement financial vehicleprofiles on the first database, each private placement financial vehicleprofile identifying an agent associated with a financial vehicle andeach profile defining searchable criteria associated with the financialvehicle; providing a plurality of qualified investor profiles on thesecond database, each qualified investor profile defining searchablecriteria associated with a qualified investor; providing on the at leastone computer server a first search engine and a second search engine,the first search engine being operable to search the plurality ofprivate placement financial vehicle profiles on the first database andthe second search engine being operable to search the plurality ofqualified investor profiles on the second database; receiving throughthe web-based platform a request by one of a qualified investor or anagent for a financial vehicle to access one of said search engines,wherein the qualified investor is provided search access to the firstdatabase or the agent for the financial vehicle is provided searchaccess to the second database; receiving search criteria through theweb-based platform associated with said searchable profile criteria inone of the first or second search engines corresponding to the investorprofiles or the financial vehicle profiles, wherein the search criteriafor the qualified investor profiles is provided by the agent of thefinancial vehicle and the search criteria for the financial vehicle isprofiles is provided by the qualified investor; and transmitting fromthe at least one computer server in response to the received searchcriteria at least one of the qualified investor profiles to therequesting financial vehicle agent or the financial vehicle profile tothe requesting qualified investor.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the step of receiving by the at least one computer serversearchable information about a private placement financial vehicle thatis entered and stored in an information template accessible through theweb-based platform and provided in a financial vehicle profile.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising transmitting the informationtemplate to a service provider for review using the web-based platform,wherein the service provider determines eligibility for being stored onthe searchable first database based on predetermined qualifications. 4.The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving by the at least onecomputer server searchable investor information that is stored in aninformation template and at least partially provided in the investorprofile, the information template being accessible through the web-basedplatform.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising transmitting theinformation template to a service provider to determine if the investoris a qualified investor using the web-based platform.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising storing private placement financial vehicleinformation in the first database.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising entering qualified investor information into the seconddatabase.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of qualifiedinvestor profiles transmittable to the agent in a predetermined periodof time is limited by a service level designation for the agent.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the private placement financial vehicle is ahedge fund.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmittingqualified information from the private placement financial vehicle agentto the at least one qualified investor found in a search.
 11. The methodof claim 1, wherein the web-based platform includes one or morecommunication portals for accessing the searchable databases.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the web-based platform and the searchabledatabases are accessible through a handheld electronic device.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising providing a user or serviceagreement to be executed electronically to access the databases.
 14. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising providing a questionnaire througha series of data screens or dropdown menus to enter information by aparticipating qualified investor or private placement financial vehicleagent corresponding to the profile of the participating qualifiedinvestor or private placement financial vehicle.
 15. The method of claim1 further comprising rejecting unqualified participants based on failureto meet predetermined criteria and transmitting a notice to theunqualified participant regarding reasons for denial.
 16. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising the generation of a virtual business cardcontaining profile information of at least one of the private placementfinancial vehicle agent or the qualified investor, wherein the virtualbusiness card is used as an electronic method of introduction betweenthe private placement financial vehicle agent and the qualified investoror vice versa.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the qualified investoris provided with an investor personal page customizable to allow accessto a plurality of savable searches of the first database.
 18. The methodof claim 1, wherein the qualified investor is granted access to capitalintroduction events sponsored by the private placement financial vehicleand the web based platform supports the event.
 19. The method of claim1, wherein the qualified investor creates an annotated investor profileproviding a limited amount of searchable information allowingpreliminary review by the private placement financial vehicle agent. 20.A method for matching an investor and an agent on behalf of a privateplacement financial vehicle comprising: providing at least one computerserver operable to receive and transmit electronic data, the serverincluding a processor module and a computer readable electronic storagemodule, the at least one computer providing a communication link to acomputer network remotably accessible by qualified users; the computernetwork further allowing access to an electronically searchable firstdatabase and an electronically searchable second database, each of thefirst and second databases hosted on the at least one computer server;providing a plurality of private placement financial vehicle profiles onthe first database, each financial vehicle profile identifying an agentassociated with the private placement financial vehicle and each profiledefining searchable criteria associated with the private placementfinancial vehicle; providing a plurality of qualified investor profileson the second database, each profile defining searchable criteriaassociated with a qualified investor; providing on the at least onecomputer server a first search engine and a second search engine, thefirst search engine being operable to search the plurality of financialvehicle profiles on the first database and the second search enginebeing operable to search the investor profiles on the second database;receiving through the computer network a request by one of a qualifiedinvestor or an agent for the financial vehicle identified in saiddatabases to access one of said search engines of one of said databases,wherein the qualified investor is provided search access to the firstdatabase and the agent for the financial vehicle is provided searchaccess to the second database; receiving search criteria through thecomputer network associated with said searchable profile criteria in oneof the first or second search engines corresponding to the qualifiedinvestor profiles or the private placement financial vehicle profiles,wherein the search criteria for the qualified investor profiles isprovided by an agent of the private placement financial vehicle and thesearch criteria for the private placement financial vehicle profiles isprovided by a qualified investor; and transmitting from the at least onecomputer server in response to the received search criteria at least oneof the qualified investor profiles to the requesting financial vehicleagent or the financial vehicle profile to the requesting qualifiedinvestor.